There’s something different about Lorde’s Teen Vogue cover. *Squints eyes, cocks head* Oh right! Lorde is wearing a whole lot of color. The 17-year-old alt-pop wunderkind is glowing on her latest magazine cover, where she’s styled in an orange-and-red plaid top from Marc by Marc Jacobs’ Fall 2014 collection—a pivot from her typically goth, mostly monotone M.O. Lorde’s softer makeup—a light smoky eye finished with silver shadow and a natural lip (not her signature purple shade)—is another departure that we can get behind.

Lorde opens up in her profile about the unrealistic beauty ideals placed on pop stars—and, she hopes, their eventual disappearance. "There are a lot of expectations in this industry about looking a certain way and having a certain kind of appeal," she says. "I am feminine, but I really love dressing in boys' clothes too. I guess that's why I get labeled as 'the grumpy girl,' because I don't play into that."

Lorde for 'Teen Vogue.'Photos: Teen Vogue

Fittingly in her editorial spread, Lorde wears a sporty crystal-embellished tropical floral dress from Prada’s Spring 2014 men's collection (that's not a typo, BTW, there were dresses on the men's Spring 2014 runway) with an oversized black overcoat and clunky black boots. In another photo she wears Christopher Kane’s black, gauzy, arrow-stitched dress with a sequined flower graphic from his Spring 2014 collection, which incorporated the season's popular floral love, but with a grunge edge. Hmm. Feminine yet grunge. It seems like Lorde will have plenty of clothing options this spring.

Look for Lorde’s May issue of Teen Vogue on newsstands April 29 or head over to teenvogue.com to check it out now.

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